One Answer
by Sei Honou
Summary: “Just give me one answer. No buts, ifs, whats, whys, ors, or anything else.” -ButchButtercup-


-insert disclaimer-

**Edited o8/o8/o9**

* * *

**One Answer**

Townsville High school.

Finally, it was dismissal time. When the bell rang, the green puff hurriedly grabbed her green backpack and made a run to the locker hall. The pink puff and the blue puff were surprised of their sister's actions. It was the start of the weekends. No wonder Buttercup's all excited.

"It must be a special day for her," the pigtailed blond said as she placed several spiral notebooks in her blue messenger bag.

"Right... She didn't even say goodbye to us," the redhead replied, gathering her books from under her desk. Bubbles snapped, which caused Blossom to drop her books all of a sudden.

"Oh! She has a date with Butch today!"

"What?! You mean Buttercup's seeing Butch today?!"

"Yeah!" the blond said brightly. "I saw her planner opened, and today's September 26, right? She had the date marked with a green Sharpie. It said xx."

"xx? You mean kisses," Blossom said as she gathered her fallen books again. Bubbles simply shrugged.

"I dunno. It just said xx."

Blossom sighed, realizing the reality. "Let's go home, Bubbles. Buttercup has a date."

And with that, the redhead and the pigtailed blond made their way home.

- -

Skateboarding to the park, Buttercup stopped in front of the basketball court and caught a glimpse of the red Rowdyruff playing with his brothers and some friends. Butch had the ball, and he jumped high for three points.

"All right! Great shot, Butch!" Brick said as he gave his brother a high-five.

"_Oh, wow... Brick doesn't have his signature cap on," _Buttercup told herself, smiling a bit at the thought. _"If only Blossom could see."_

Her thoughts were interrupted when Butch called her attention. "Yo! BC!" Butch ran to where Buttercup was, still sweaty from all the playing. "Sorry 'bout that! I didn't see you."

"It's okay," she told him as she held her skateboard. He gave her arms a quick squeeze before leaving her for a moment. "Wait, lemme grab my spare shirt."

"O-Okay," she said, a bit shaken at his sudden action.

"Oh, BC. One more thing," he turned back again, smiling at her. "Thanks for coming."

Buttercup just smiled back at him. "Of course."

The two of them were so busy talking and smiling at each other so they didn't realize that the two other Ruffs and their friends were watching them.

"Oh, wow. Butch's girlfriend!"

"She's cute."

"I'm Coby, by the way."

Instantly, the green-eyed pair blushed. Both were defensive and justifying.

"No, guys! BC isn't my girlfriend!!" Butch exclaimed, still blushing. She had the same look on her face. "Y-Yeah! W-We're just friends!" she said, raising and waving her hands defensively.

"Oh, really, you two. There's no need to hide it!" The blue Ruff said teasingly, poking Butch in the arm. It wasn't long until the red Ruff made fun of his brother, snapping his cap back on his carrot head. "Yeah. Why do you two keep on denying it?"

"But it's true, you guys! BC isn't my girlfriend!" The green Ruff asserted, along with the help of the green Puff. "Yeah! Butch's telling the truth!"

Boomer and Brick exchanged looks.

"Man. You two are lame," Boomer said bluntly, obviously unamused and unimpressed at his brother's defense.

"Why hang out with each other when you aren't even together?" Brick made finger quotation marks in the air. "As in _together_."

"Look, you guys. BC isn't my girlfriend _yet_," Butch said, stressing the last word until they all understood. An _Ooooh... _came from the group of boys as a response.

"I'm just gonna have to wait for the right time." Butch said, placing an arm around Buttercup's shoulder.

"And when the right time comes, we won't have to hide that we really are," he made the finger quotation marks this time. "_Together_."

Another _Ooooh... _was a response. Brick shrugged. "Oh. Okay then. BC, can you tell Blossom not to forget our date this Sunday?"

"Yeah. I guess I can tell her," the only girl nodded as she clutched her skateboard. Boomer piped in excitedly. "And tell Bubbles that I'm gonna pick her up at six tomorrow night."

"Uh, yeah. I'll tell her, too," she gave him an assuring smile.

The two other Ruffs and the boys shuffled out of the basketball court. "Butch, we gotta go," Brick said. "Still got that chemistry homework to worry about."

"I got English to work on," Boomer stated. The eldest Ruff winked at his brother. "Just enjoy the rest of your day with your soon-to-be girlfriend, k?"

- -

Butch led Buttercup to a nearby seat. "Wait for me, BC. I juz have to change my shirt."

"Okay," she said as she sat down on the cement bench. Butch took off his favorite black wristband and gave it to Buttercup. "And while you're here, I want you to hold onto this."

"What's this for?" she asked him curiously. He winked at her.

"Think of it as a collateral. So, wait for me, okay?" he disappeared to the nearest comfort room to freshen up. After a few minutes, Butch came back to where he left Buttercup, replacing his olive green shirt with a golf grass green shirt.

"So, let's go?" he held out his hand to Buttercup to which she replied happily, "Let's go!"

She grabbed his hand and ran off. That officially started their date!

- -

Walking around the city...

The green Ruff carried the ball he was playing with a while ago while his equal had her skateboard in her left arm. "So, BC... How's school?"

"It's okay... I guess," she replied unsure. "How about you? How's Citysville High School? I heard that there's lots of pretty girls there," she nudged him teasingly. He stuck his tongue out at the thought of Citysville High School girls.

"Pretty girls?! Yeah, they're pretty annoying," he said with spite. "Poor Boomer has to run for his life every morning since he's bein' chased by those annoying fangirls..." he paused, then grinning. "But tell Little Blue not to worry since she's the only girl in Boomer's heart."

"I see," she replied. "What about Brick?"

"He got recruited by the football team," Butch dribbled the orange ball as they walked. "Nicknamed 'Red-Haired Glorious'."

What he said elicited a giggle from his counterpart. "Red-Haired Glorious? Isn't that a bit too... Corny?"

"I thought so, too. But Brick takes pride in that name," he said surely, catching the ball in his hands again. Silence ensued for a few moments, but Buttercup decided to break the ice. "And you. How are YOU doing, Butch?"

Butch smiled proudly and true. "Basketball player. Power Forward."

"So those guys a while ago..." she said. "Were your team mates?"

"Yeah. Coby, Axel and John," he stated the names of the boys present a while ago. "Say, you wanna grab a frappé or a cappuccino?" He pointed to a quiet coffee shop. "Don't worry. It's our date, so it's my treat."

Buttercup had no time to react since she was already being pulled to the coffee shop by her assertive date.

- -

Like a normal date should be, Butch did all the ordering of their drinks while Buttercup waited for him at their table. Her skateboard was under the table, kind of dirty because of all the boarding she did. She did a quick appearance check, smoothing out her blouse and patting her jeans. She was with Butch. What could happen?

Moments later, Butch was carrying a tray with two grand-sized cups. "Here you go, BC. Coffee Jelly. Mocha-flavored."

"Thanks, Butch," she smiled as he took his seat across her. He placed the two cups of chilled caffeine on the table, along with two straws and wads of tissue paper. "What did you get?" she asked him.

"Strawberry-flavored Coffee Jelly. Brick said that it tasted good," he placed the straws in their drinks. Buttercup fiddled with the bendy straws as she took a sip from her drink. "So... You guys hang out here often."

"Well, yeah. Townsville and Citysville aren't that far from each other, you know. But I wish that there was some way that we could be closer to each other. Seeing each other every weekend isn't enough for me."

"Why is that?" she asked him. A smile played on her face.

Butch played with the straw on his drink. "I don't know. I just want to be closer to you. And not only me. Brick and Boomer think the same as well. He once told me that Little Blue's been crying because of the distance."

"Oh, that time," the smile on her face vanished when she recalled that incident a few days ago. Her little sister was crying so hard because she thought that her Boom-Boom was cheating on her.

"Poor Little Blue..." Butch said as his fist curled. On impulse, he asked her, "Say, can I see your sisters later?"

"What for?"

"Just paying a visit... The old man's gone for a business trip with his colleagues, anyway," he answered surely. Buttercup smiled. "Why don't we go now? Blossom's at home, studying, and Bubbles will cook dinner."

"What about the Prof?" Butch inquired. His counterpart shrugged.

"He's probably at home, too. Why? You still scared of my father?" she said with a hint of jest in her voice, which caused him to state, "Buttercup Utonium, I'm not afraid of anything."

"Well, then what are we waiting for?" she grabbed her beverage and her skateboard. "Let's go!"

"BC, wait!"

- -

Utonium Residence...

Buttercup fished out her house keys from her pockets and opened the door. "Hey, I'm home."

"Welcome home, Butter-- Butch!" Bubbles exclaimed as she saw her metaphorical brother enter their house with her sister. Butch raised a hand and grinned at the blond Puff. "Yo, Little Blue!"

"Well, if it isn't Butch Jojo," Blossom said as she walked down the stairs, obviously disturbed by the shriek of her little sister. "Where are your clever brothers?"

"Brick had chem homework. Boomer had English homework," the green Ruff answered confidently. Blossom asked him again, "What about you?"

"I did my homework during lunch," he said even more confidently, grinning at the lovely sage. "Saves time."

At that moment, the Professor stepped out of his lab. He held a few manuscripts and blueprints in his hands, carefully sorting them out as he cautiously climbed up the stairs.

"Good evening, Professor," Butch greeted brightly. The Professor almost fell off the stairs when the green Ruff greeted him. He analyzed the young man from head to foot. Apparently, he was quite surprised at the youth's fast growth.

"My! That's an amazing growth spurt you had, Butch Jojo! When you last visited you were... My shoulder height... And now, you're, uh... Well, you're even taller than I am!"

"Well, time flies fast, Professor," Butch said with a shrug.

"And your brothers?" The Professor inquired as he piled up his materials.

"Got homework."

"Professor, Butch will be staying for dinner. Is that okay?" Bubbles asked their father figure while she held onto her brother's arm. They were all already close enough to consider each other as family. The Professor nodded with a smile. "Why not? It's not often that we have guests over."

- -

In the girls' room, Buttercup placed her skateboard away while Butch sat down on the sisters' bed. He examined the room in awe. "Why are girls' rooms so tidy? Even though Brick fixes our room everyday, clutter comes out all the time."

"Well, guys are natural slobs when it comes to tidiness," Buttercup said with an as-a-matter-of-fact voice. Butch threw a pillow at her and exclaimed, "Utonium, take that back!"

"No way!"

And the pillow came flying back at Butch. "OW! Buttercup Utonium, this means war!" He charged at her with a euphoric and sinister grin on his face.

"Butch, stop!"

- -

Outside the said room, the blue Puff was listening to what was happening inside. The door was closed, and she didn't want to disturb her sister and her almost-boyfriend in whatever they were doing. She could hear her sister's laughter and Butch's grunting. Even so, it was already dinner time, so the two of them had to be called down. She was expecting a whole lot of PDA going on in their room. The door swung open. "Hey, guys! Dinner time!" Bubbles chimed.

"GOTCHA!"

What Bubbles didn't expect was that Buttercup and Butch were gonna tackle her and tickle her.

"N-NO! Guys! S-Stop!"

- -

The evening sky glittered with a million stars, but it still paled in comparison to Buttercup's smile. Butch had to head back to Citysville. "Thank you for welcoming me."

"Come again anytime!" The Professor said. "Now, Buttercup, escort Butch outside."

Now, at the front porch of the Utonium Residence...

"Thanks for today, BC," Butch said with a smile on his face. She could only smile back at him. "No problem."

"I... Wanted to ask you this earlier, but there were some distractions... I think that this is the right time for me to ask."

"What... What is it?"

He held her hands in his, clutching them tightly. "Buttercup, will you be my girlfriend?"

Of course, that question left her speechless. It made even the toughest and strongest girl in the whole city of Townsville go "I... Well... I-I don't know what to say..."

"Just give me one answer. No buts, ifs, whats, whys, ors, or anything else," he asserted. She still couldn't reply, but the smile on her face gave away the answer. "I..."

"Yes or yes?" He asked with a teasing edge. He only wanted to hear it from her. He wanted to hear it come from her lips. _Yes._

Her smile said it all. "Of course I'll be your girlfriend, dummy!"

"Really? No joke?"

"Yes, yes, Butch Jojo, I'll be your girlfriend," she said with a laugh. The sweetest melody to his ears.

"That's good," he replied calmly, trying to quell the excitement and euphoria he was feeling right now. "Now, where's my wristband?"

"This one?" she took his wristband out from her pocket. He got it from her. "Yes. Now, gimme your hand."

She raised her left hand. He slipped on the wristband on her wrist and kissed it. "I love you, BC."

Buttercup just smiled. She just smiled. She was pretty sure he knew what that meant. "I'll take that as an 'I love you, too'," he said as he kissed her on her forehead. "I'll visit you again, BC."

"Okay. I'll be waiting."

And Butch flew off. Buttercup watched her boyfriend take flight, until he was no where in her sight. The front door swung open and came out the two other Puffs. "September 26! September 26!" Bubbles exclaimed.

"Mark this day, Buttercup," Blossom said with a smile, linking arms with her sister. Bubbles did the same. "Come on! Let's celebrate! You're no longer single, Buttercup!" the pink Puff exclaimed, pulling her sisters outside their house. "Yeah! Let's go have some ice cream!"

"Hey! Lemme go!" Buttercup desperately tried to pry herself from her sisters' grip.

"Of course, it's your treat, Buttercup!" Bubbles sang. The Professor was right behind his three daughters, smiling as he took easy steps.

"Hey! I said lemme go!" the green Puff still struggled. Her sisters' grip got even tighter.

"Not until you get us some ice cream!" they said in unison.

"NO!"

And the day finally ended. Buttercup still had to treat her sisters to ice cream. She would remember this day forever, all right.

It was the day she gave the boy she loved that one answer.


End file.
